Test of professional competence : second pilot examination

Abstract

At the end of the First Pilot Report, thirteen recommendations were made for the second pilot. Nine recommendations (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12) bore directly on the second pilot, and most were implemented. A document was written for the trainees explaining the purpose and nature of the assessment. The examination authors were given training in setting competence-based assessments. The practice complexity of the examination materials was increased. Instructions to trainees regarding the use of materials in the examination room were clarified, and the categories of texts were widened. Some, but not all, examinations assigned weightings to questions. There were no exemplars of work for trainees sitting the second pilot, and the areas of law under examination were increased rather than reduced. Recommendations 3 and 5 were not implemented: the areas of law under examination were increased, not reduced; and there were no exemplars of the standard of work for trainees to consult before the examination (impracticable, given that this was a first pilot in a number of new areas).